What you can and cannot bring inside Nationals Park

Nationals Park is not only home to the Washington Nationals baseball team, but also host to a series of great concerts and hockey games. It’s a very family-friendly stadium and also a great place to enjoy some class-A entertainment.

Visitors to the stadium go through a pretty standard security check, during which their bags will be checked. Please note that you can only bring only soft-sided bags no larger than 16″×16″×8″.

Our tip? If you want to skip the waiting time, leave your bags at home and carry just your essentials in your coat pockets. This way you can go through the no bags line and reach your seats much quicker.

Bag policy Nationals Park – prohibited items

Even if you do decide to bring a bag or purse with you, there are a few items which are strictly prohibited in the stadium:

Please note that there are no storage options for prohibited items inside Nationals Park.

Bag policy Nationals Park – items allowed in Nationals Park

What’s safe to bring inside:

Soft-sided bags that are smaller than 16″×16″×8″;

Compact, collapsible umbrellas, that can fit into a bag;

Personal cameras/ video cameras, as long as they are not used to record the game or disturb other people and interfere with their enjoying the game;

Signs and banners, as long as they are not offensive, are not attached to a pole and do not block the view of other players or cover any stadium signage;

Single servings of food kept in a soft-sided container or cooler no larger than 16″×16″×8″;

One bottle of water per person (sealed or empty) as long as it’s not larger than 1 liter;

Insulin containers and baby food;

Service animals.

House rules in Nationals Park

Apart from having to comply with the bag policy in Nationals Park, there are also a few general house rules you should follow:

Smoking is not allowed in any area of Nationals Park

This includes e-cigarettes and chewing tobacco.

No offensive language

Keep the stadium a place of respect and sportsmanship. Don’t use any sort of offensive language when referring to anyone, whether it be a player, umpire or a fellow member of the audience.

You shouldn’t interfere with other people’s enjoyment of the game

For example, take care that you’re not standing for long periods of time when others are sitting; the people behind you want to watch the game just as badly as you. If you don’t agree with another person’s comments, then judge them silently, like the rest of us do, don’t pick on them or bully them. Also, don’t be the person always shouting directives at the players. They’ve got this.

Don’t interfere with the game or throw any item on the field

You might want to let a certain player know what a huge fan you are plan on throwing a “Love Forever” teddy onto the field. Or you might want to let a certain player know how much of a fan you are not and want to throw a pair of undergarments at them on which you wittily wrote “eat my shorts”. Perhaps you’ve seen one Hollywood film too many of people streaking across baseball fields and reckon this is your moment. As those after-schools specials have taught us, just say no. This way you and everyone else can enjoy a nice show and not needlessly interrupt or interfere with the play or other’s fun afternoon.

Dress appropriately

There is always that one person that suggest you and your pals all go together to a game and write something funny on your bare bellies. The security guards might take issue with that. So show your support by wearing your team’s merch or just regular clothes.

What to do when your bag doesn’t fit the policy?

No worries, LuggageHero is here to help. With several locations around Washington, conveniently close to all the main tourist attractions, LuggageHero is a quick, safe and easy solution for storing your bags.